Electric incandescent lamp making machine



' July 7, 1931, R. -w. CONN ELECTRIC INCANDESCENT LAMP MAKING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet INVEN TOR Ewczm BY ATTORN July 7, 1931. R. w CONN ELECTRIC INCANDESCENT LAMP MAKING MACHINE INVENTOR EDS/Com 9-% ATTORNEY A 4 m R 2 Sheets-Shea! 2 Filed Sept. 30, 1927 1 UNITED for positioning lamp PATENT "OFFICE BOBEBT wYcon-mor vaux 1mm new annsnr, assrenon' 'ro wnsrmenousn' Luce I COMPANY, a oonroaarron or rmmsvnvma 4 i a lic tion ma September $0, 1927. Serlal 1io. 228,05 8.

This invention relatesto lamp making machines and more particularly to mechanism mounts for consolidation with lamp bulbs. 1 Y

In the manufacture of incandescent electric lamps, it is necessary to'unite a lamp mount with a bulb prior to the evacuation of the bulb in an exhaust machine. The lampmount generally consists of several glass parts comprising ail-arbor, flare tube and an exhaust tube which parts are fused together and united at a 'ven point termed the press. Leading-in eon uctors consisting of suitable wires are positioned in given relation to the glass parts during their consolidation. so that the 581d wiresare embedded in the press during the union of the glass parts.

It is then generally the practice to radially insert a number of wires mto the upper end of the arbor and'to form hooks at the projecting endsof the wires to receive-the filament Thevarticle produced by the above mentioned operations. 1s generally termed a stem and is automatically produced in' a stem making machine. To this stem a filament is added by application to the support wires, and when the stem has had the filament appliedthereto, the entire structure is termed a mount.

.The. filament is .disposedin the hooked ends of the radially projecting. supportfwires of the stem and the ends of the filament are clamped or weldedto the leading-in conductors. The mount may then be .united to a 4 bulb by an-operation including the positioning of. abulb over a mount, so that the neck of the bulb is disposed adjacent to the flared portion ofthe fla tube of the mount. Heat is then applied an ii the neck'of the bulb and the flare tube are fused ther and consolidated. This is known in t e art as the sealin .-in operation.

. I 0 operation of uniting the .bulb and mountto'gether is performed in what is known as a sealing-inh'ead. The variousoperations just described are usually performed automaticall withthe exception of the mounting of the fi a'ment on to the support wires.

- Owing to the extreme fineness of the filament, the operation of mounting the same on the support wires isa difiicult performance tions.

and requires the services of skilled operators. The automatic operations, such as the produc-- tion of the stem, the sealing-in 0 erat1on,etc., are performed at relatively hig speed and, therefore, lamps may be made at a greater --55 rate of speed than is possible for a sin 'le op-. erator to accomplish the necessary fi ment mounting operation. It is, therefore, necessary that several operators for mounting filaments be employed in connection with a sin Is no sealing-in machine so that a suflicient quantity of stems might be obtained to meet the output of the machine.

,Usuall the lamp mounting operators who attend t e sealing-in machine deposit the 66 the proper eflicient results. Furt ermore,

even though the filaments may be automati- 76 cally mounted in the support wires,the complete mountwould obviously have to be hanled' by the sealing-in operator for disposition in the sealin -in machine.

It is an o ject of the present inventionpao therefore, to provide a lamp makin mechanism whereby a lamp mount may sealed into abulb with a minimum amount of handling and with a minimum number of opera- Another object of the invention is to provide mechanism for automatically disposing a lam mount in osition for consolidation with t e lam bul Another ob ect of the invention is to pro- 00 vide'co-ordinating machine elements for moving a lamp mount to a predetermined position with respect to "another machine and disposing the mount in operative position in said machine. 1

The present invention provides for the automatic delivery of stems from a suitable source as, for example, a stem making machine,v to: positionsconvenient for the applithem to the sealing-in machine for consolidation witha lamp bulb. By reason of the present arrangement of mechanical elements, it is. possible to avoid the laborious o ration of hand feeding a sealing-in mac ine Tao and the disadvantage of the manual operation and the excessivehandling of a delicate lamp part such as the mount is avoided, and

the rate or production'materially increased. I

The invention will be more fully understood by reference to the accompanying drawings in which;

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic plan view of a sealing-in machine having the mount transfer mechanism associated therewith;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the machine shown in'Fig. 1; a l

Fig. 3 is a planview of mechanism for transferring a mount from a conveyor to a sealing-in machine; and v Fig. 4 is a side elevational view showing a portion of the transfer mechanism illustratedin Fig. 3.

The present embodiment of the "invention may comprise a stem conveyor 10 position in operative relationto a sealing-in machine 11 as diagrammatically shown in Fig. 1. The stem conveyor may consist of vertical shafts 12 and 13, the shaft 13 having a sprocket wheel 14 engageable with a link chain 15 constituting the actuating mechanismof the con- 've or. The said chain may be provided with 7 ho ders 16 having apertures 17 to receive and support stems 18, each of which includes an exhaust tube 19, a flare tube 19', an arbor 20' and leadin in wires and 26'. Support wires21' Fig. 4) support a filament, 22'. This type of stem is used in the so-called tipless lamp.

When emplo ed for handling stems of the he exhaust tubes-19 of stems are inserted into apertures 17. The stems maybe received from any suitable source as,-

for example, from a stem making machine (not shown). The conveyor 10"is arranged topass between tables 20 and 21 about which operators mayhelocatedat 23, 24, 25, 26 and .27 so that as the-stems-pass they are easily accessible to the operators and may have the filament apfplied thereto complete them in i the formo mo ts-mm:.;f r.si?1!1i% a sealing-in machine. ,When an .o v serts amount into amaperture '17, leadingin wires 25 and2fi'lgareheldagainstthe exhaust tube'19'and also insertedinto-the-said aperture. By this means, a-snficientnumber of mounts may be provided to supply the-dea motor (not shown) I her 46. pivoted at 47 and be r in 30 secured to a shaft 31. Thisjshaft 31 constitutes the main driving shaft and serves I to actuate'the conveyor, sealing-in machine.

and inte d transferring-mechanism, indicated as a whole by the numeral 32, for

'. transferring a mount to the sealing-in ma chine. h for t e purpose 0 positioning' a mount to be received by. mechanism for transfer-to the sealing-in machine a cam-track 32" is provided to engage with the exhaust tubes '19 of the mounts. As the conveyor 10 moves the mounts to positionfor removal, the camceived .by the mount transfer mechanism, as will be presently described.

The motion to a source of power as, for example,

aft 31 may be drivenby suitable con- 7'8 track causes the mounts to move upwardly, leaving room for.the exhaust tubes to be re- The sealing-in ma-.

,chinell is also driven intermittently and in cludes a rotary conveyor 33 having a plurality'of the usual t pe of sealing-1nheads seed relation adfaeent'to its ed periphery. A suitable vertical shaft 35 is 34,d1sposed in-sp provided. upon which the conveyor .33 is'r'o tatably mounted.

The conveyor m by any suitable 7 indicated consisting of pins 36 en y be driven intermittently echanism, .the mechanism able with a slotted cam 37 secured to t 'e shaft 31. mechanism is well known and it is.

believed that as diagrammatically represented inthe drawings, is fully comprehensive to those skilled in this art.

The mechanism32-above referred to, which transfers 'a' stem from the conveyor 10 to the sealing-in mach1 'ne, may comprise an arm 38 secured to' a. shaft 39. This s .110 s is adapted to be lifted and lowered by'means of a lever viding means whereby upon-a rotation o the shaft 31 a suitable, vertical, reciprocal mo-, tion may be imparted to the shaft'89. 4

be attained by means of a lever-segment-mem-.

a I] went-member 48 e 5135a a segmental and'havmg an. end; 42 dis-' edseg-.

tory movement of the arm 38 may i v pinion) securedtoa eeve 50disposedabout the shaft 39.- The lever-aegment-memb r 46 is provided with anarm 51 with a'guideway'in, cam

. d to-thefshaft 31,:therehy a maimhavin in62" no v of said shaft causes an oscillatory movement of the lever-segment-member 46 with a consequent oscillation of the arm 381 The general operation of the interposed transfer mechanism 32 having been above set the arm 38 in an arc from a mount receiving position A to a mount discharging position B.

This mechanism may comprise a bottomslide-plate 58 movable in a track between guides 60 and 60 on the arm 38. This slideplate carries a pair of jaws 62 and 63. Each of the jaws is disposed on an end of an arm 64 pivoted on pins 65 on the upper side of a lever-member 66. This lever-member is also pivoted on the pins 65. The free end of the lever 66 is provided with a roller 67 for engagement with a wedge-shaped member 68 mounted on an upper-slide-plate 69.

The slide plate 58 is movable in the arm 38 and carries the jaws while the slide plate 69 is mounted on the slide-plate 58 and is movable relative thereto. The said slide-plate 69 is disposed in a guide slot 7 0 and a spring 71 disposed in the slot engages a shoulder 72 of the bottom plate 58 and an end 73 of the upper plate 69, thus normally moving the wedge 68 from engagement with the rollers 67 of the jaw-members. A spring 74 is provided to normally move the ends of the levers 66 together, thus when the wedge is moved from contact with the rollers 67, the jaws 62 and 63 will be opened.

Inasmuch as each of the levers 66 is pivotally attached to jaws 62 and 63, a stop-pin 75 is provided for each jaw to limit its movement in one direction and tension members 76, secured to the levers 66, and having the free ends in contact with the jaws 62 and 63, serve to tensionally hold the jaws against the stop-pins. By this construction, the aws may operate to grasp an object such as exhaust tube 19 without imparting any excessive stress thereon. I

Operating mechanism for guiding the jaws consists of the cam member 57 which is engaged by a pin 77 projecting from the upper plate 69. The plate 69, however, is associated with the lower plate byreason of a pin 7 8 which projects through a slot 79 in the upper plate 69 so that an independent movement of the top plate may be had for a given distance or until the pin 7 8 engages an end of the slot 79, whereupon the top plate is moved to carry the jaws outwardly after a given movement of the cam 57, whilea continued movement of the cam causes the top plate 69 to move and engage the wedge 68 with the rollers 67, efi'ecting an opening of the jaws.

In order to obtain a positive movement of the wedge-member 68, the slide 58 is provided with a stop-member in the form of a stop-pin 80 which extends through a projection 81 secured to the slide 58 and engages with projection 82 secured to the arm 38. In addition to the jaws 62 and 63 a ten-- sional member in the form of a finger 83 is provided. This member is in the form of a U-shaped extension and is held beneath a helical spring 84 on the pins about which the jaws 62 and 63 rock. The purpose of the member 83 is to engage the flared end of the flare tube 19 and provide a positive, means for thrusting, the exhaust tube 19 into the holder of the sealing-in machine.

When in position to receive a mount from the conveyor 10 or to insert a mount in the sealing-in machine, the arm 38 is held stationary by means of a guide rod 86 which enters an aperture. 87 in one of a pair of brackets 88, each bracket being integral with a vertical bearing 89 in which the shaft 39 is disposed. This bearing may be supported on a plate 90 constitutlng a portion of the stationary structure of the said machine.

In operation, the arm 38 is actuated in.

timed relationto the other operating mech-; anism. When a mount holder of the conveyor 10 hascarried a mount to position A as indicated in Fig. 1, the mount will be raised. The arm 38 is then moved to position so that the jaws 62 and 63 may grip the exhaust tube of the mount and at the same time, secure the ends of the leading-in wires 25 and 26; Assuming that the jaws 62 and 63 are closed about an exhaust tube as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the cam-member 57 will be at the end of its cam 53 will operate the segment 48 causing the segmental pinion 49, which is secured to the sleeve 50, to rotate. A rotation of the sleeve 50 causes a rotation of the shaft 39 by reason of a pin 91 which extends from the shaft 39 and into a slot 92 in the said sleeve.

The arm 38 is, therefore, carried to a position over a holder 34 in the sealing-in machine. When this positionis reached, the cam 53 operates to cause a-downward movement of the shaft 39, thereby effecting a movement of the exhaust tube of the mount into the holder of a sealing-in head and the guide rod 86 enters theaperture in a bracket 88.

At this time, the lever-segment-member 46 begins to operate to cause the cam 57 to effect a reversal of movement of the slideplates 58 and 69, thereby opening the jaws 62 and 63, whereupon a mount is released. The cam 43 operates to again raise the arm 38 just subsequent to the initial movement of the cam 57 which opens the jaws 62 and 63. A continued movement of the cam brings the pin 7 7 to the other end of the slot 56 and the cam operates to carry the arm 38 into position over a mount in a holder of the mount conveyor at which time the cam 43 operates to lower the arm and the cam 57 is.

actuated through a return movement, with the result that the jaws 62 and 63 are again closed about and secure a mount.

It will be obvious that by a suitable formation of the cam surfaces which operate the transfer mechanism, the jaws'62 and 63 may be opened just prior to the final downward movement of a mount into a holder, thus the finger 83 which engages a flare tube may cause the mount to be moved down to its final position without opposition of the jaws and in a more positive manner, since if gripped by the jaws alone the same may slip, owing to the smooth surface with which they have to contact.

It will be evident that by reason of the present construction, it is possible to transfer a lamp mount from one position to another.

matically secure the lamp filament to the stem, whereupon the present mechanism might be employed for automatically transferring a mount to a sealing-in machine.

Although a preferred embodiment of the invention is shown and described herein,it is to be understood that modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

Vhat is claimed is:

1. A lamp making machine comprising means for supporting a lamp mount, jaws for gripping the exhaust tube of said mount, means for moving said jaws to position-said exhaust tube over a holder, means fonmoving said jaws to insert said exhaust tubeinto said holder and secondary means for engaging said mount to insure a downward movev ment thereof to insert the exhaust tube into said holder.

2. A machine of the class described comprosing a conveyor for lamp mounts having exhaust tubes, a sealing-in head, means for gripping the exhaust tube of a mount, means for moving the mount for insertion into said head and secondary means for engaging said finger for engaging another portionof said mount and means for moving said jaws to insert said exhaust tube in said holder.

4. In combination, a machine having a holder for a lamp mount comprising an exhaust tube, means for gripping said exhaust tube, means for moving said-gripping means to insert said exhaust tube in said holder and means for engaging another portion of said mount during movement thereof into said holder. v

5. A machine of the class described comprising a conveyor for lamp mounts having exhaust tubes, a sealing-in machine, heads on said machine to receive lamp mounts, gripping jaws for engaging the exhaust tubes of mounts, means for adjusting mounts in said conveyor to be received by said jaws, means for moving said jaws to position mounts insaid heads and means cooperating with said jaws to insure movement of said mounts into said holders.

6. A lamp making mechanism comprising asupport for receiving an exhaust tube of a lamp mount to hold the mount in position for consolidation with a bulb, means for engaging the exhaust tube of said mount, means for transferring said mount to said support,

means for actuating the transferring means to insert'the exhaust tube of said mount into said support and means for engaging another portion of said mount to insure movement ROBERT W. CONN. 

